Furnace



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. F. RICHARD-S.

FURNACE.

No. 510,548. Patented Dec. 12, 1893.

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FURNACE.

No. 510,548. Patentd Dec. 12, 1893? M/fihsssea: fnvEpTUr:

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RH. RICHARDS.

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' Patentd Dec. 12, 1893.

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THE NATIONAL LITHOGRAFHINQ GOMFANY.

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3 I UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FRANCIS H. RICHARDS, OF HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO ECKLEY B. COXE, OF DRIFTON, PENNSYLVANIA.

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SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 510,548, dated December 12, 1893. Application filed September 1, 1893. Serial No. 484,556. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

3e it known that I, FRANCIS H. RICHARDS, a citizen of the United States, residing at Hartford, in the county of Hartford and State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Furnaces, of which the following is a specification."

This invention relates to'that class of travellng-grate furnaces which are designed for burning low-grade anthracite coal, and especially the smaller sizes of the same. My present invention is in the'nature of an lmprovement upon the furnace described in the prior Letters Patent, No. 499,716, granted to Eckley B. Coxe, June 20, 1893.

In the drawings accompanying and forming a part of this specification, Figure 1 is a sectional side elevation of a furnace embodying my present improvements. Fig. 2 is a sectional plan View taken on the line cc of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 shows a transverse, vertical section taken on the line cZ-d of Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is an enlarged sectional view of a pair of grate-bars, taken on the line e-e, Fig. 5. Fig. 5 is a side view as seen from a point at the right-hand of Fig. 4, looking toward the left thereof, of the parts shown in said figure; and Fig. 6 is a plan view of the same, for illustrating the relative arrangement of the successive grate-beams. Figs. 9 and 10 show a modification of the grate-bars or fuel-carrying plates. Figs. 7 and 8 show another modification of the grate-beam and grate-bars, in which one grate-beam carries two grate-bar sections attached thereto.

Similar characters designate like parts in all the figures.

For convenience, my present improvements are herein shown and described in connection with the furnace described in the aforesaid Patent No. 499,716. It will be remembered that in said furnace the floor of the furnace-chamber C consists of an endless traveling grate, designated in a general Way by G, and which may be of any suitable and wellknown form, as, for instance, of the form described in the prior application of said Eckley B. Coxe, Serial No. 477,264, filed June 12, 1893, to which I have permission to refer. The endless grate shown in this application 'is similar to the endless grate shown in said application, Serial No. 477,264, it comprising a series of grate-beams, N, each carrying a series of furnace-floor plates, 18, suitably constructed for the passage of air. In the present instance said floor-plates, or floor-sections, consist of a series of fingers or bars, 9, connected by a plate, 9, and a bolt, 9", to the grate-beam. The grate-beams N are shown,

carried by chains 50, which run over, and are actuated by, chain-wheels 12 and 14, which are carried upon the shafts 13 and 15, after the manner described in said Letters Patent. Said shafts and chains are or may be actuated by means of a worm-wheel, 40, fixed to one of said shafts and meshing with the worm 41, on a driving-shaft, 42, supported in bearings 43 and 43', and provided with the pulley 44, whereby it may be revolved.

The air-supply apparatus for the grate consists of series of chambers, a, b, 0, cl, located at successive points of the length of the furnace-chamber, immediately under the fuelcarrying run 10 of the endless grate. Said chambers are supplied with air by means of the respective pipes a, b, c and d, which are usually provided with regulating-valves, or gates, as a", b", c", 01'', respectively, for the purpose of independently regulating the air-pressure in the successive chambers, for the purpose of efiecting the combustion of the fuel according to the process described and claimed in the Letters Patent No. 499,715, granted to Eckley B. Coxe, June 20, 1893.

For supplying fuel to the furnace-floor, I have shown the usual hopper H, from which the fuel slides downward in a stream, 22, directly onto the grate or furnace-floor, substantially after the manner illustrated in said prior Letters Patent. The furnace-chamber C, immediately rearward of the hopper H, is shown covered by a reverberatory roof A, beyond which may be placed the boiler B, or other thing to be heated.

For the purpose of simplifying the illustration of the invention, only such partial views of the described furnace are herein shown as are deemed necessary for a proper understandingof my present improvements; andfor this purpose complete elevations are deemed unnecessary.

According to my present improvements,

the described grate-mechanism is set inclined, as best shown in Fig. 1, the series of beams N being carried by the chains and 50, which, on the upper run thereof, are supported by the rollers, 51, and on the lower run thereof may be supported by the pins or studs 52 (Fig. 3), running upon ways, 53, fixed on the inner sides of the walls of the furnace structure; said mechanism being, in practice, inclosed for the purpose of retaining within the grate-mechanism chamber 0', any leakage of air escaping byway of the edges of the furnace-floor.

The grate-sections or plates 18, which are shown in detail in Figs. 4, 5 and 6, are set at an inclination to the grate-beams, as illustrated in Figs. 1 and 4, so that the bars or fingers f one section overlap the spaces between the fingers of the next grate-section, as will be understood by comparison of Figs. 4 and 6, and as also shown on a smaller scale in Fig. 2. The inclination of said grate-fingers 9 relatively to the grate-beams is opposite to the inclination of the grate-mechanism in the furnace structure, so that the fingers on the upper run of the grate (see Fig. 1), lie substantially horizontal,and therefore constitute successive narrow and relatively level fuel-supporting portions of the furnace-floor. By means of this organization and arrangement of said features, the furnace-floor is adapted for holding steadily in place the layer of fuel spread thereon, notwithstanding the considerable inclination of said floor, and the manner in which the said grate-fingers are separated when passing over the lower chain-wheel 14, as shown in Fig. 1, is such as to thoroughly break up the cinder and to deliver the same from one of said sets of fingers forwardly onto the next and more inclined set, and so on until the cinder is finally disposed of.

According to the plan of construction illustrated in Figs. 1 to 6, each successive link of the endless chain carries a grate-beam N; but in some cases one grate-beam may be furnished with two sets of sections or fingers, as illustrated in Fig. 7, where the grate-section 18' is secured to the forward side of the beam, and a different arrangement of grate-section 18", secured to the rearward side of the beam. For the purpose of more fully illustrating this modification, duplicate grate-beams, and each provided with two sets of fingers, are shown in Fig. 7 in proper relation for use.

In Fig. 8 is shown a front view of the gratesection 18" which is fixed to the forward (right-hand) side of the grate-beam in Fig. 7.

In Fig. 9 there is illustrated a different modification of the grate-fingers shown in Fig. 4, said fingers in this case being curved so that the extreme ends of one set overlie the spaces between the opposite ends of the next succeeding set, in a manner to form continuous furnace-floor surfaces in alignment with the furnace-floor. This arrangement, of course, does not have the advantage described in connection with Figs. 1 to 6, in which the furnace-floor surface consists of successive level portions.

The operation of my present improvements will be readily understood from the preceding description read in connection with the drawings and with reference to the aforesaid Letters Patent. The fuel being fed to the grate in a manner substantially as set forth, at a point adjacent to the first air-supply chamber a, is there ignited, and carried rearwardly and downwardly in the furnace, over the succeeding chambers b, c, and d. During this period, when the furnace is supplied with the particular kind of air-supply apparatus described in the aforesaid patent, the fuel is subjected first to a relatively high-pressure air-blast, and afterward to an air-blast of successively low pressure, until it is finally entirely consumed and the ashes disposed of at the rearward and lower end of the grate-mechanism. During the operat on of the grate, the place of the burning fuel is substantially supplied by fresh fuel from the hopper II, so that the operation of the furnace is continuous so long as the fuel-supply and the air-supply are properly maintained and the grate actuated by power applied to the driving apparatus therefor.

Having thus described my invention, I claim 1. In a furnace, the combination with the furnace-chamber and its walls, of a traveling-furnace-floor set inclined and comprising successive sets of overlapping grate-bars set inclined to the furnace-floor oppositely to the inclination of said floor, and constituting successive and relatively lower fuel-supporting surfaces, substantially as described and for the purpose specified.

2. The combination with the furnace-chamber and its walls, of a traveling furnace-floor comprising carrying-chains, beams supported on said chains transversely thereof, and sets of overlapping separated grate-bar fingers on said beams, the fingers of one beam being set over the spaces between the fingers on the adjacent beam, and means for actuating the furnace-floor, substantially as described.

3. In a furnace, the combination with the furnace-chamber and its walls, of a traveling furnace-floor set inclined and comprising successive sets of overlapping grate-bars set inclined to said floor, a fuel-supply set over the upper end of said floor, and means for supplying air to the grate-bars, substantially as described.

4. In a furnace, the combination in the traveling-grate mechanism thereof, of a series of transverse beams, means for carrying said beams, and inclined grate-bars set transversely on the grate-beams, and the bars of one beam to overlap the spaces between the bars of the next beam, substantially as described.

5. In a furnace, the combination with a so ries of transverse beams, and with means substantially as described for carrying said beams, of a series of separate overlapping grate-bars set transversely of said beams and inclined relatively to the furnace-floor, and means for removably holding said bars in place on the beams, substantially as shown and described. I

6. In a furnace, the combination with successive transverse furnace-floor beams and means for carrying the beams along in the 

